Edward VI

Edward VI ruled from 1547 to 1553. Edward died aged fifteen.His father was Henry VIII and his
mother was Jane
Seymour. After the Reformation, Edward had been brought up as a Protestant.

Edward was only 9 years old when he became king. Because
of his youth, he had two advisors. The first was his uncle, the Duke of
Somerset, who became Lord Protector, and for the first two and a half years of
Edward’s reign, Somerset advised and guided the young king. Somerset was
replaced by the Duke of Northumberland. Both men wanted major changes made to
England’s religion.

As a result of their advice and Edward’s beliefs, Edward’s
reign is mainly remembered for the changes made to religion while he was king.
Though his father, Henry VIII, had removed the pope as
head of the church in England, he had not changed a great deal. During Edward’s
reign, major changes did occur.

Laws were passed to make churches more plain. Catholic
churches were rich in decorations and colour. Now under Edward, stained glass
windows and pictures were removed from churches; the furniture within churches
became very basic and plain.

The actual services became more plain and the
common person could now understand what was being said as services - now called
Holy Communion - were in English. Archbishop Cranmer wrote a prayer book also in
English. Priests did not have to dress in the bright clothing associated with
the Catholic Church and under Edward, they were allowed to marry. The king
remained as head of the church.

All of these changes were a major break from what the
Catholic Church had been like. In parts of Germany and Switzerland, religious
groups had also broken away in protest against the wealth and corruption of the
Catholic Church. They became known as Protestant, and England under Edward,
became a Protestant country with a Church of England.

Edward had never been a healthy boy and his health failed
in 1553. After the nine day interruption of the ‘queen-who-never-was’, Lady
Jane Grey, his half-sister Mary became queen of England and the country
went through another spell of religious changes.